Le Grand Tango

Le Grand Tango, Spanish El gran tango, single-movement piece for cello and piano by Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla that expresses the spirit of nuevo tango (“new tango”), a melding of traditional tango rhythms and jazz-inspired syncopation. Written in 1982, Le Grand Tango was published in Paris—thus its French rather than Spanish title.

Piazzolla studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, who encouraged him to stick with the tango rather than focusing solely on classical composition. Taking her words to heart, he began to experiment with the standard Argentine tango, diverging from the expected Latin harmonies and producing an edgier sound than that found in classic tango. He composed Le Grand Tango for Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who did not play it until 1990 or record it until 1996.

Although structured in a single movement, the work has three broad sections. It opens with the indication “Tempo di tango,” in which strongly accented tango rhythms dominate. In the second section, performers are told to allow more motion, with a “libero e cantabile” (“free and singing”) spirit. It contains extensive dialogue between the cello and the piano. The final section, for which Piazzolla provided the tempo indication “giocoso” (“humorous”), presents a mood of electric energy and even humour. The music charges forward to its conclusion, giving the cellist many challenging double-stops (playing two notes at once) and glissandos (sliding rapidly through a musical scale).